In my veins
by Republic of Yolossia
Summary: In some ways, Andrei has been given a gift. He now has forever to master any art, become an expert in any subject. He will never have to watch his loved ones grow old and die, snatched from death to live life after life forever. But in many ways, he knows he is the victim of a terrible curse.
1. Chapter 1

Andrei – Moldova

Alin – Romania

Tsvetan – Bulgaria

Franz – Kugelmugel

Kuzey – TRNC

Luca – Luxembourg

Monique – Monaco

Mr Jensen - Norway

* * *

No, I couldn't stop myself from starting a new story. Fite me.

I really love vampire aus, not gonna lie, especially awful, cliche vampire romance like whatever the hell I'm about to write. There is angst in this too, though, so be warned. Death and fighting too.

* * *

As a child, Andrei Radacanu had been terrified of three things: the dark that offered him many a sleepless night; pigeons, with their tiny, beady eyes; and dying. Even after dying, he found it to be an experience best left unrepeated. But, in time, he grew to find the darkness of his days comforting, empowering, even.

Of course, pigeons still creeped him the fuck out.

He never used to like the gloom and rain, and certainly would never have wanted to settle in a dreary, Glasgow suburb for any amount of time. Nowadays, though, it meant he could go to school.

Darkness was safety to him. A cocoon that kept him protected from the hatred and fire raging outside that would reduce him to ash. The fire would destroy him one day, he knew. Nothing would last forever and he could be careful as could be, but eventually…

Eventually…

He'd have to watch his family burn through screams and torn hearts and rivers of blood, inhaling his murdered loved ones as he died in furious rampage and frenzied slaughter-

The sound of the alarm trilled through thick wood he almost hit his head against as he shot up. Andrei groaned, throwing the lid open with a wave of his hand. Louder, the shrill sound was unbearable, and he scrambled – hissing – to slam the snooze button, giving him enough time to turn the damn thing off. Without overloading and kicking it in. Again.

He never expected to have to keep forking out for alarm clocks.

Deep breath. Calm again. He was safe. All was well. Deep breath. And another. He was dead, but deep breath.

He really needed to start using his phone. And maybe keep it charged. Stupid modern technology.

Maybe if his brother wasn't a complete fucking scatterbrain, he could wake him up each day with a hug and maybe even a warm cup of blood to get him started on those cold, winter mornings. Alin was always awake at this time.

Grabbing a periscope from his desk, Andrei made his way to the window, hidden behind a thick, purple curtain. Lucky he had no reflection so, even if it was sunny, the sun wouldn't burn his eyes out. Probably. He'd never bothered pursuing a degree in any scientific field. He slipped the periscope between the curtains, and, with a grimace, took a look.

"Yes," he hissed, "clouds!" He could go to uni today! 'Writing for the media' was his favourite course. Well, poetry was his favourite in terms of subject, but in terms of classmates… Andrei wiggled his eyebrows.

And now he needed to look his best: dead but delicious and all. Luckily – or unluckily – his clothing choice was made that bit easier by the fact that he only had 5 blouses left in reasonable condition. The rest were either ripped to rags or covered in more blood than a bike that lost a fight with a truck. The deep pink one was certainly… eye-catching. A conversation piece, perhaps? Combined with skinny jeans, it was a look that painted him as alternative in a classy way. As opposed to immature and angsty.

Andrei knew it was slightly sick to be relying on old, predatory instincts, the need to look absolutely irresistible to his prey. But in his defence, it was to score a date, not a meal. And at least, this way, he didn't need hypnosis to seem like the only person in a room.

Not that he'd ever use his powers of hypnosis for evil.

His brother's husband thought he was a fool. Maybe there was something about old people that bred hypocrisy, and at 800 years old, Tsvetan had apparently forgotten that he had not only developed feelings for a mere human, but fallen madly in love with one. He'd been completely ensnared and he damn well knew it! Then again, Alin Radacanu tended to bring out only the most extreme emotions in people. And animals. And monsters. And mostly white-hot rage at that.

Andrei dumped notebooks and folders into a battered old bag he'd bought during his 2005 emo phase and still secretly loved. The sad thing was, Tsvetan hadn't noticed any difference.

His best friend said he was a mess of cringe and Andrei knew it was true. Franz Edelstein, however, was his own brand of awful.

Satisfied that he looked like the biggest attention-seeker in Scotland, Andrei began to adoringly descend his spiral staircase. As was his melodramatic want, when he found out the place had a tower with a cute little room right at the top, he claimed it immediately. Alin and Tsvetan could have their creepy cellar lair, but Andrei was proud of his decorating, making the round room a strange cross between stately home and 15-year-old's bedroom.

With a coffin, of course.

He heard the sounds of a violin as he wandered through halls Tsvetan had decorated with the word 'macabre' on his tongue. The place was a country house the old bastard had bought back in the 70s, the final in a collection of properties he owned across Northern and Eastern Europe, bought with wealth he'd amassed and stolen over centuries of being one of the most fearsome vampires of the time. Of course, many of his houses were either destroyed in the Second World War or grabbed by the communists when the iron curtain fell.

Except a little townhouse in Chișinău he'd kept only by being there to hypnotise anyone who tried to take it from him. Luckily for the Radacanu brothers.

He also still had this house a few miles from Glasgow, a cottage on the Hebrides, and a few properties in northern Scandinavia.

"Morning," he chirped as he entered the living room. It was Alin on the violin, Tsvetan singing an old folk song to keep him company. He sat at the organ bought 200 years ago, a smile on his face that reminded Andrei of just why he and Alin belonged together.

Tsvetan Borislavov Borisov was a dour, gloomy man. He rarely thought it necessary to crack a smile, and yet, around Alin, his cold, dead eyes lit up. It was like he was human for a moment.

"Oh, is it morning already?" Alin's hands stilled and the music came to a halt.

"Yes," Andrei pulled him into a hug, "might want to get to sleep. It's gloomy out, but you need to rest."

"Yes mother," Alin sighed dramatically. Tsvetan just chuckled, standing up to give Alin an awkward side hug, burying his nose in his hair. Tsvetan wasn't used to showing affection in the slightest, but the granite man was softening up. Slowly.

"So," he began, looking like he was giving a speech in front of a crowd of slayers, "you have… human school? Learning, um, learning books."

"Creative writing, yes. At human university." He didn't know why he was trying. When it came to the world of humans, Tsvetan was practically senile.

He saw something in Alin's eyes: the lack of understanding. Confusion. He groaned.

"Don't start," he snapped, "I like learning." Yes, at twenty, he really didn't need to keep doing degree after degree, wherever the three of them settled, but he most certainly wanted to. Andrei loved learning. He wanted to know everything, and what better opportunity to learn everything than after being given eternal life? In a sense.

Right now, he was curious about the art of writing. He could get novels published, right? Then, in a few decades when they'd become classics (maybe he'd have to try a few times under a few aliases whilst he honed his skill but oh well), he could take a literature class or two and watch everyone analyse his work. And, presumably, start a few tearful fights every time someone criticised his writing, because he was a Radacanu and that's what they did.

"Back in my day, people didn't bother with all this school nonsense," Tsvetan muttered, "if someone wanted to learn, they became a monk."

"Fascinating." Andrei bade goodbye to his brother, ignored Tsvetan, and left, grabbing his parasol along the way.

They picked Scotland for the same reason they picked any other place to live: it was far north and allowed them to survive far easier. It was cold, damp, and the nights stretched longer in the winter. During the day, the clouds would often – lovingly – cover the sun and shield him from the deadly rays. As an added bonus for Andrei, the town also housed the Humanities and Literature campus.

He clutched his parasol tighter. Sure, the sky was grey, but it only took one little hole. One beam of sunlight and he was dust.

Education was worth it, though.

* * *

Alin chewed his lip. He did that when he was nervous, without fail. Having been alone for centuries, Tsvetan was a little proud of himself for picking up on that.

"He'll be fine," he murmured, still holding Alin close. When the guy worried, it was usually in regards to that brother of his. He worried about Tsvetan too, whenever he did something ridiculous to the point of dangerous. Which was often because he was a vampire and vampires liked being completely stupid. Or something like that.

"Why does he have to go out in the sun though?" Alin whined, burying his face in Tsvetan's shoulder.

"I have been around a while," he replied with a sigh that signified the beginning of a story; "I have seen people fight and die for their right to an education. I do not always understand Andrei, but you cannot fault him for wanting to understand more about the world. When I was his age, such a thing was unheard of."

Alin smiled. "Thanks."

"I mean," Tsvetan continued unwisely, "a peasant boy perusing an education would-" Alin raised a hand to Tsvetan's mouth.

"That's enough, treacle."

* * *

Andrei hurried into the building – he swore he saw the sun about to poke out from behind a cloud, like some sort of wee dick. If he had a heart, it would be pounding furiously. As it were, he just leaned against the wall and wished the sun away.

Given that they still have 15 whole minutes before the lecture began, there was no one around to see his panic, thankfully. All alone. Peace and qui-

"It's gone now," a pair of hands slapped his shoulders and he squeaked. An actual squeak. How fearsome.

"Fucking- fuck! Franz!" he cried, "you almost scared me back to life!"

"Woah, let's not say that in front of the tasty ones." The faux-mysterious whisper of Kuzey scared him more than Franz, if he was being honest. He just turned up unexpectedly, like a creep. Also, 'tasty ones'?

Then again, Kuzey Adnan had been turned during the death of the Ottoman Empire, the oldest of the three by far.

"Kuzey, what the actual fuck?"

"Nice to have that question directed at someone else for once," Franz muttered jokingly.

"How come we never aim it at the blouse?" asked Kuzey, nodding in Andrei's direction.

"Franz is wearing a blouse too," he mumbled.

"Mine's modern. Yours makes you look like a vampire."

"Alright, Mr Baroque Flowers. It's a good thing vampires don't exist, then." The three exchanged grins.

Andrei didn't bother mentioning that Franz's blouse didn't match his pastel pink leggings. He wouldn't care in the slightest; so much for blending in with the humans… Kuzey was the only one of them who dressed even remotely sensibly, which baffled Andrei. As far as he could tell, the older the vampire, the more of a dramatic attention-seeker they were. It was true with Tsvetan, and both Kuzey and Franz's dads.

And yet, he'd only been dead for 18 years, Alin for 28, and they were amongst the worst over the top drama-bats imaginable. Then again, anyone who marched into a vampire's lair, demanding to be turned and offering to be seduced, was the very definition of eccentric. It was like he was born to be a vampire.

"Did you do the homework?" asked Kuzey.

"We have an hour before the seminar," said Franz with a faux-guilty grin.

"I did… something." He didn't think it was anything good but what harm? It was that point in the term.

Besides, the task was to write about the street he grew up on. In the 80s. He wasn't even sure it still existed because the country it was in certainly didn't. He'd not been to Moldova since it became independent.

He'd suggested it as a place to settle a few times – as they still had the house – but since getting married, Alin and Tsvetan needed to avoid certain countries. More so than before.

Franz gave him a nudge as students began filing out of the lecture hall. The three made a dash for the door, knowing full well Andrei would mope if he wasn't at the back.

With Luca in sight.

For all their mocking, Andrei, Franz and Kuzey did support each other through their dumbass crushes. Maybe he didn't see what Franz saw in that recluse Lars Oxenstjärna, or what Kuzey saw in his ridiculous football teammate… Peter Oxenstjärna. Were vampires attracted to Swedes? Or, at least, people adopted by Swedes? Did it technically not count as drinking blood if the humans in question's nationality was also a vegetable?

It was easy to see why Andrei longed for Luca, as far as he was concerned. Rosy cheeks and full lips? He was – quite literally – a vampire's wet dream.

They grabbed seats near the back, just as Luca ambled in with his own friends, all chatting excitedly as they made their way up the stairs… to sit in the row in front.

Andrei could feel Franz's smug glare burning into the side of his face, so, instead, decided to focus on counting the hairs making up Luca's thick, beautiful locks. He'd tried a few times, but never gotten far, adding to the frustration Luca made him feel on a daily basis.

Vampires were attracted to humans that looked alive, well cared-for. Here, it wasn't so much of a problem because everyone was stressed and dead inside. But Luca? He had the easy-going air of someone who still had time to take pride in his appearance. Did they not give out homework on that journalism course of his?

He turned to face Andrei, who was a little too busy being annoyed that he'd lost count. He tried to focus on counting Luca's scattering of freckles and- nope, his cheeks were red and the freckles gone.

"Were you two going to say something?" asked Monique, Luca's best friend. "At all?"

They both jumped, Luca drumming his fingers against Andrei's table. "Hey, um?"

"Hmm?" He wasn't sure he was up to speaking just yet.

"What's the lecture on today?" The glare Luca's friends shot him suggested he'd just pussied out of saying something else. Andrei's heart almost started beating again.

"Writing people," he squeaked.

"Ah, okay," Luca took a moment, presumably to weigh up whether or not it was worth coming in.

"Probably important for a journalist to know," he chided. They dealt with people or something, right?

Luca moaned. He really shouldn't have.

"Nice shirt, by the way," he said, "looks good on you."

It'd look better on your bedroom- _no, Andrei!_

"Thanks," he said instead, "liking the baby blue. It's very, um, becoming." And you'll be- no!

Luca blushed and Monique rolled her eyes. The rest of Luca's friends at least had the grace to pretend to be having conversations with each other. Franz and Kuzey were making their way through a packet of biscuits whilst staring at them intently.

They… didn't even need to eat. At all.

"What about my shirt?" asked Franz, through a mouthful.

"Awful," they joked at the same time.

"Fuck you guys!" Franz groaned dramatically, leaning over his table. "I can't be arsed with today." Andrei raised an eyebrow.

"It's twelve."

"And?"

"Do you even have a 9 am lecture?"

Franz scoffed. "Does it matter?" Bloody drama students.

"Alright, settle down!" Mr Jensen barely looked at his students as he made his way to the desk and began fiddling with the projector. The chatter died ever so slightly, but it wasn't until the PowerPoint was up on the screen that Mr Jensen had the class' full attention.

"Writing about people," he began, voice calm and almost monotone, but still capturing the attention of all. There was something about him, the class had discussed it waiting in the corridor once, he looked like he'd snap if someone talked over him. A shame, really, because he did look really hot.

"When writing my memoirs, and when writing creative non-fiction – non-fiction with a narrative – like fiction, you will need to write characters." He looked about the room to make sure everyone was paying attention; Andrei straightened his back. "It's very rare that you will write creative non-fiction without including a character. Even you are a character, if you choose to write from your perspective."

He hadn't read Mr Jensen's memoirs; apparently the guy had travelled a lot, in a band of ghost hunters looking for supernatural beings. He almost chuckled at the thought: what would Mr Jensen make of three vampires sitting in his class?

"There are a lot of things to consider," he continued, "we're talking about real people here. It's a delicate balance, telling the truth and getting a story out, and respecting the people involved and their privacy." Mr Jensen pulled a book out of his laptop bag; had any of his lecturers gone a month without promoting their own work? Then again, if they were stuck teaching broke alcoholics how to write, their works probably hadn't sold as well as they'd hoped.

He read an excerpt from his book, about a co-worker who accompanied him on a trip to Bulgaria.

Bulgaria, huh?

What if he decided to write about Tsvetan and his centuries of drama? Then again, to protect the identity of the man he considered a father figure - and his reputation of not being completely insane -, he'd have to pretend it was all fictional.

What if he wrote about when he was alive? From the point of view of a complete stranger who researched and pieced together the last few years of his life, what happened the night he'd died, and how his death became sensationalised. He still had the newspapers from the time, and a video tape of the news broadcast as disgustingly morbid souvenirs. Could he pull it off?

Probably not, because how could he interview people he knew at the time without giving away the fact that he was the dead person in question, somehow unaged after nearly two decades? He could always send Kuzey, the only person who had both not known him when he was alive, and also was trustworthy enough to conduct such research.

He wondered what the police would think if he included an interview with his brother.

Who had disappeared shortly after his death.

It was a stupid idea, but a fun concept nonetheless.

* * *

He hoped Luca wouldn't volunteer his work to be read out to the class – it really wasn't his best.

He always ended up with Luca when getting paired off in this seminar. It was a conspiracy! Franz and Kuzey would pair off with each other, as would Luca's four friends, and they'd be stuck together. He wasn't complaining though, because damn he loved being near Luca, talking with him and learning about him.

He was immersed in Luca's piece, about a quaint little street in Luxembourg City ruined by an old lady who seemed to hate him for no reason. He could almost smell the flowers his brother kept in window boxes, and the homemade waffles drizzled in chocolate his sister had perfected even back then.

"Hey, Andrei," Luca leaned closer to hiss in his ear, unheard by everyone else discussing the work in pairs. "There's something I want to ask you."

This was it. This was the moment he'd fantasised for months now and maybe written stories about in his diary. Luca was going to ask him out. It was a dream come true! But he was not prepared for such a moment; he'd make do, but damn if he'd known, he'd have combed his hair that morning!

"Yes?" he breathed, tucking a lock of burgundy hair behind his ear.

"Um, are you free this Friday?"

"Yes, of course." No, wait! That made him sound boring! "Um, I mean, maybe." Did he sound coy or like a berk?

Luca tittered. "Look, um-"

"Yes?"

"I'm having a party, well," he bit his lip, "a small get-together. Just a few friends, and music and alcohol. I'm sure someone will find some weed. Presumably Franz." He paused, and Andrei could feel himself deflate. No date then, but a party, hmm? A chance to see Luca outside of class? He was in. "Yeah, tell Franz and Kuzey they're invited too. And you, of course." He gave a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, sure we'll be there!" He was going to drag his friends – kicking and screaming – to that party to be his damn wingmen. Not to mention, Luca was in the LGBT society too, so also knew the Oxenstjärna brothers pretty well. Chances were they'd be there.

"My brother's in Norway, on a work trip," Luca muttered, "so Isabel and I are going to have some fun. Not trash the place – it's not gonna be as fun as the movies – but just de-stress before assignment season."

"Yes, but this is Glasgow, therefore you will have at least one kitchen appliance stolen." It happened at Peter's last party. Only an idiot would steal a coffee machine from a Nordic household.

"I'm only inviting people I know, not the whole campus." Luca looked a little nervous though, and probably making plans to evacuate a large chunk of his possessions to the attic.

"It sounds fun," he hoped he didn't sound to desperate when he added: "I can't wait."

"Well you two seem passionate about your pieces," came Mr Jensen's growl from behind them, "I'd love to have them read out to the class, if you don't mind."

* * *

"So, we're actually going to be spending time together," Andrei bristled with nervous excitement, sandwiched between Franz and Kuzey on a sofa in the library. Working hard, of course. At the very least, the table they'd claimed was now covered in Franz's various projects. "Like, outside of uni!"

"We know."

"I get to see his house," Andrei couldn't help the gasp that came out, "and meet his sister! And- and maybe get to talk to him!"

"Probably a given," Kuzey, for one, looked like he was struggling not to take the piss, "I mean, you won't get to keep him to yourself the whole time, but he will probably say hello at the very least. That much I can guarantee."


	2. Chapter 2

_Isabel - Belgium_

 _Angie - Seychelles_

 _Mei - Taiwan_

 _Elise - Liechtenstein_

 _..._

 _Hnnng I'm so bad at keeping up to date on my fics. I've actually spent a lot of time thinking about this fic, unfortunately not this chapter so much, which is a shame because it's pretty important because, well... you'll see!_

 _Warning for drugs references and alcohol use._

* * *

"I just want you to know," began Andrei, "that if you do anything to ruin this, up to and including biting someone, I will never forgive you." He was joking, but he did want things to go well, and to have a good time. And people tended to not have a good time when being eaten.

"I'll have you know," said Franz with a wicked grin, "that I plan on sinking my teeth into Lars before sunrise. With his permission, of course."

Andrei pulled a face. "You know what I meant!" Was it normal to have that one friend that constantly overshared? He'd not had a close friend in a while. Maybe the three of them were so close because Franz just told them all his secrets then held Kuzey and him hostage. What a strategy.

"Psst," Franz produced a small sandwich bag from his pocket, flashing it at them just for a second, before putting it back. "Don't worry, okay? We're gonna have a good time one way or another."

Kuzey raised an eyebrow. "Fucking art hipsters. You know we're highly flammable? And incapable of eating solids? What's the point in even bringing weed?"

"Make money. Also this is for non-coward vampires anyway."

"Tsvetan smokes," Andrei shrugged, "Alin too, sometimes."

"And Tsvetan's almost been burnt to a crisp after spilling ash on his trousers," said Kuzey; "several times."

"Fair point," said Andrei, "but come on, Franz. This is Glasgow! Everyone does ket anyway."

Franz shrugged. "You try talking to your crush on ket." Fair.

"You haven't been to his place before, right?" Kuzey glanced at his phone. "I think it's down here."

"No, we just hung out at bars." A handful of times, either having a few drinks after class or seeing a play for fun. Then there was Halloween where they went on a ghost walk Kuzey organised for a laugh. Even without Luca, Andrei had found those nights to be some of the best of his life.

"It should just be down here," said Franz.

"Do I look okay?" Andrei asked, picking at the waistcoat he'd convinced Tsvetan to buy for him, along with some fake satin shirt. He hoped he looked dashing, all in deep red.

"Aw," Kuzey pulled him into a side hug, "don't worry, wine boy. You look great! Oh, I think this is the place."

"Come on!" Franz's skirt swished as he broke into a jog up the path of a rather nice semi-detached house, one with a garden reminiscent of something from a postcard. Andrei smiled at the little wheelbarrow of flowers next to the door. He used to date a gardener, back in the day, and still had a handful of vague memories about the guy trying to teach him how to design a garden. And sitting out in the sun planting roses and tulips, warmth on his face.

He missed it, sometimes.

Franz rang the doorbell and the three of them huddled together in excitement. Vampires turned at a young age – and Franz – were generally more adapted to the human world than the older ones, usually having more reason to cross into that world, but even they got excited by actually being involved. Maybe it was something about blending in with the humans? Or maybe – for Andrei, at the very least – they missed having a large group of friends.

A lady quite similar to Luca answered the door with a smile so bright Andrei almost hissed at it. Instead, he focused on her bouncy hair and kitten top. He liked her; she seemed trustworthy.

"Hi there!" she greeted, "Luca's friends, right?"

The trio gave hurried nods.

"This is where he lives, right?" added Andrei, "we're here for the, um, party." Franz snickered.

"Yeah you're in the right place," said the lady, "I'm Isabel, by the way, Luca's sister."

"You look lovely," Kuzey mentioned as she led them into the sitting room. It was the first modern house Andrei had visited in a long while, and he was fascinated by how light and airy humans tended to make their homes. It was like they were boasting about being alive. There was music, in the background, and the Oxenstjärna brothers had already claimed the TV for a game of GTA, it seemed. Angie was dancing by herself in the corner, not quite in time to the music. A buffet table in the corner was covered in food he knew he couldn't touch, and someone was already passing round a bong.

Luca was present, of course, on the sofa talking to Mei and Elise. He grinned when he saw them, giving a wave and excusing himself.

"You made it!" he exclaimed, "and it seems you've met my sister. Um, Belbel, have I ever introduced you to Andrei, Kuzey and Franz?"

"No, but they seem like nice lads;" with a nod, Isabel left them to it and grabbed a cake for herself.

"Thanks for inviting us," said Kuzey, "everything looks really nice."

"Oh please, we're friends, right?" Luca bit his lip adorably at that.

"Yes, of course." Andrei hadn't realised it was him that had spoken until Franz snorted. Luca just smiled.

"Still, um, make yourselves at home, don't steal my kitchen appliances, but apart from that have fun. Really glad you came!" He glanced at Andrei as he said that.

"Don't what the kitchen appliances?" hissed Kuzey the moment Luca had gone back to his friends.

"Inside joke," he said. It barely counted as one, but he was clinging to it, like a loser desperate for human interaction. When the two glanced around for Franz, they found he'd already abandoned them for Lars, who was currently kicking the fuck out of Peter's character onscreen. It was probably the only fight Lars could ever win on his own merit, even with Franz's legs draped across him.

"Um…"

Andrei glanced at Kuzey, the boy's eyes glued to the floor and – what was that – a faint purple blush on his cheeks? "You wanna cheer on Peter?"

Kuzey winced. "No, just watch. Quietly. Want to join?"

"Are you really inviting me to spend time with you when we arrived together?"

"Andrei."

"Fine, I'll come."

It wasn't exactly what he'd planned to do at the party: sit on the sofa watching GTA as opposed to giving Luca Morgens… um… lovebites. Then again, the night was just beginning, so he gave himself an hour of watching Lars play dirty and Peter almost reduced to tears and real life homicide before moving over to hover by the buffet table. He couldn't eat human food. Not only did he have no need to eat, but his stomach could no longer digest anything that wasn't blood or tiny amount of alcohol and maybe water if he was really pushed for something to drink.

But hey, he was allowed to smell the food. The mortals didn't own the air!

He looked a bit pathetic standing by himself though, and oh damn did he miss cakes. And sweets. And ice cream. Honestly, in the nearly two decades he'd been dead, Andrei still hadn't quite learnt his lesson about eating, but if you asked him, he'd say eating a tray of baklava was worth a day's throwing up blood.

"Help yourself, friend."

Andrei jumped at the sound of Luca's voice, and at how close he'd gotten.

"I, erm, no thanks." Did Luca actually look disappointed at that?

"My sister made them," he said, "I was hoping to get your opinion, in all honesty. Um, low-key, of course. You mentioned you like sweet things, right?" Though he was trying to be 'low-key', his smile was high-key genuine. It was sweet he remembered such an off-hand comment too.

Andrei wanted the sun to turn him to ash right there and then. "I'd love to, and blasted fuck it looks tasty, but I'm on a, erm, special diet." A special diet? Was this twilight off of a sudden?

"Oh," great, now he had upset Luca.

"What the hell, one cake wouldn't hurt!" It would. He picked up a cupcake and took a bite before Luca could protest. He wished he knew if it was tasty or not, but everything tasted like dirt to him. It looked like the kind of thing he would kill a man to eat whilst alive though. "Mmm, delicious! Woah, Isabel is such a great baker!" Did it work? Please say it worked. He really needed it to work.

Luca's face lit up. "You like them?"

"Course!" It just occurred to him that he was having an actual, honest-to-god one-on-one conversation with Luca Morgens. In his own home. At a party he'd invited Andrei to. Andrei almost disintegrated into a cloud of fog right there and then. "I love them!"

Being a human was so freaking hard, even though he'd spent more of his life as a human than a vampire. He was a living fossil, stuck watching the world move forward without him. He'd only been turned in the nineties, and made an effort to integrate with the humans, but it still felt like a struggle. Maybe he was just being dramatic though. He tended to do that. He was starting to see why a lot of vampires gave up after a few centuries.

"Great!" Luca glanced behind him, "hey, my sister wants to talk to me, but I'll catch you later! I'd love to spend some time with you." Then he was gone, and Andrei found himself both feeling light in the head from Luca actually wanting to be around him, and desperately hurling himself upstairs to find the nearest bathroom.

* * *

Cake successfully regurgitated, and the Morgens' toilet discreetly cleaned, Andrei came back into the main room meaning business. He was going to dance, sing, and win Luca's heart. Just so long as his friends hadn't eaten all the guests.

They would never, of course, but it would be just his luck.

Franz, however, appeared to be in deep conversation with Luca, standing in the corner and looking quite serious about whatever they were talking about. They glanced at him and Andrei froze. Luca refused to look at him again, but Franz spared him frequent glimpses.

They were talking about him.

Andrei grabbed himself one of the bottles off the table and took a long swig, ignoring the complaints from those around him. It was wine. And the good shit too! He clutched the bottle like a baby as he stumbled into the garden. Lacking a functioning liver, the alcohol went straight to his head.

What the hell was Franz playing at?

Did he think he was helping him or something? Just blurting all Andrei's feelings like that, because he knew Franz and knew this was exactly the kind of stunt he'd pull. Franz wouldn't mean any harm, but some things were better left unsaid. Usually things Alin had said, but other things too.

There would be no good coming out of letting Luca know he liked him. Honestly, Andrei was quite happy to work on their friendship and that was about it. He'd rather have Luca in his life not knowing anything than have him out of his life because he said too much. Or Franz had said too much.

The air was cool and clear out here. Few people were about, just a couple five seconds away from a handy, some others out for a smoke, and a few just trying to talk without having to shout over the music. He could get some peace here; the Morgens had a fairly big garden, so he could probably find somewhere to hide. And maybe turn into a bat without anyone noticing. He wasn't supposed to drink and fly - last time he did he hit several windows and a garage door before making it home - but, honestly, he just wanted to get out of there.

Could he convince Alin and Tsvetan to move to another country for a few decades? Until everyone he knew here would be long dead and, until them, he could just start again in Norway, or some other cold, dark country.

"Andrei!"

Oh fuck. He didn't need to glance back to know Luca was following him. There was nowhere to hide. He couldn't turn into a bat now! He couldn't even walk away. Things were dark and blurry. Luca was there.

There were arms around him now, the bottle gently but firmly prized from him. Luca looked worried.

"So, you like me too?"

"I- what?" Cool, he was hearing things now. He wondered what Luca was actually saying to him. "I'm- I'm going, don't… worry. I'm sorry." He had to get out of here. And pack his things. And maybe, if there was time, fake his own death.

Again.

Or he could stop being the result of vampire dramatic and Radacanu dramatic and just think for once.

Luca was leading him back inside, arm around him tightly, and a cup of water was pressed into his hand.

"You're freezing," he heard Luca say, "look, I'm not letting you go in this state! Go lie on my bed and get warm." Andrei swallowed about half the water, with the other half dribbling over him. Luca put the wine on the kitchen counter, still three-quarters full.

"Lightweight," he commented, and Andrei scowled.

"I'm not! I'm Moldovan!" It wasn't his fault he didn't have a liver! He used to be a beast when he was alive!

"So how much were you drinking before starting on that, then?"

"Oh, lots, so much alcohols. I love- drinks- what was the question?" He swayed slightly, clutching the kitchen top.

"Okay, time for bed!" Luca dragged him upstairs, ignoring the stares of the other party-goers. Andrei clung to him. He was warm, and since he wasn't freaking out and kicking him out of the party, he decided to make the most of Luca's body heat. And smell. He smelt so good, like sugar and wine and sweet, sweet blood.

He was so near, head resting on Luca's shoulder. He could heard the guy's pulse. The scent of blood was overwhelming him.

He fell onto Luca's bed. The room was dark, and he buried himself in the sheets. They carried Luca's aroma, and he tried to lose himself in them, anything to keep himself off Luca himself.

"I can't tell if you're ill or just… really hung up on me," Luca commented as he stroked his back, "not to be vain. I really like you though! You're sweet, and you always write the most interesting things. I'd love to see you become an author one day, or a poet. Um, whatever you want to do, though."

The urge not to bite him was bringing tears to his eyes, and when he looked up from Luca's pillow, he must've looked pathetic.

"You're sweet," he mumbled. Too sweet. Andrei doubted he'd actually drain Luca completely if he bit him - he rarely did that, unless he was out to kill - but it wouldn't be something he could explain away. Luca would hate him! And the physical pain was not something he wanted to put the guy through.

"You're pretty," said Luca, glancing away, and Andrei pounced.

He somehow stopped himself before he got anywhere near Luca's neck, pinning him to the bed, faces inches apart. Luca looked up at him with no fear, only excitement and arousal, and Andrei wasted no time in kissing him. If he focused on the lips, maybe he could ignore the neck. He'd always wanted to kiss those lips.

Luca tasted… well, like Luca, he supposed. Hints of alcohol, the faint dirt of his sister's cupcakes. Luca moaned into his mouth. He could feel blood pulsing under his skin. He wanted it. He wanted Luca so badly, in every way. He wanted to bite him. He was going to bite him.

And he was against the wall.

Luca looked up in confusion, still sprawled out on the bed. He was fine, though. Andrei hadn't bitten him, he was almost certain.

"I don't… I feel sick," he whispered, covering his mouth with a hand.

"The en suite's to your left," said Luca, and Andrei was gone in a flash. He was moving too fast, but Luca was probably too drunk to notice. Hopefully.

He only had time to lock the door before he was kneeling over the toilet, throwing up blood. He kept going, until his stomach was empty, the effort to keep from biting Luca too much for him to take. It made him queasy. The alcohol was doing the opposite of helping too.

And now he'd have to hurriedly, drunkenly, wipe Luca's toilet. Great. What a fun night!

"Are you okay?" Luca was tapping at the door gently. Andrei groaned.

"Yes! Fine! Don't worry about-!" His words were cut off by more retching. The door handle rattled.

"Andrei," came the worried voice, "are you-"

"I'm fine!"

There was a pause before Luca spoke again. "Look, you're staying here tonight, okay?"

Andrei wasn't sure he could, but he was so weak. And now he was even more empty! He wouldn't… he wouldn't actually kill Luca, would he?

If he was being honest, Andrei was pretty sure he'd just fall asleep at this rate.

"Err…"

"Yes you are. Look, I'm getting you some water, you get back into bed when you're done."

"Coconut!" Andrei called, remembering in his drunk haze something Kuzey had told him a few years ago. Coconut milk could be used as an emergency substitute to blood, and whilst Tsvetan would be severely disappointed at the thought, it wouldn't do any harm to ask. "Do you have coconut milk?"

"Err, I think I might have a bottle." And he was gone, good to his word and getting Andrei his water and the carton of coconut milk one of his siblings must've bought. Probably for a baking thing. While he was at it, he rooted around in the medicine box and slipped a packet of painkillers into his pocket for added measure.

"How'd it go?"

Luca jumped and wheeled round to find Franz in the corner, Lars all over him and leaning against the guy like he'd collapse without the support. He was sloppily kissing at the guy's face, maybe thinking he had the mouth when he was in fact sucking on the guy's cheek. Luca almost threw up in his mouth.

"We kissed once and now he's throwing up in my toilet," he sighed, "I don't think he believes me."

Franz was ignoring his boytoy now. "Poor guy. Look, he's really crazy for you, don't judge him too much."

"I'm not, I promise," Luca smiled, "I'm crazy about him too." There was just something about Andrei's weirdness, and how awkward he was around people; it was endearing. He smiled warmly.

"Ha, gay!"

"Shut up, Edelstein!" Luca pouted, and maybe blushed. "Look, I told him to sleep it off in my bed. I'll look after him, okay?"

Franz raised an eyebrow. "Look after him… how?"

"Nothing like that! You can trust me, okay? I'm no creep."

Franz pretended to regard him suspiciously, then glanced over his shoulder. "Peter! Put that coffee machine back!"

"Isabel stole it from my party first!"

* * *

 **Yes, it's gonna be one of those nice fics where the pairing gets together early. You know, those!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi I actually want to get deeper into this story and feel bad that it's taking so long to write each chapter._

* * *

After downing the entire carton of coconut milk - and maybe possibly kissing Luca within an inch of his life -, Andrei soon found himself fast asleep, passed out on his bed in a heap. It had been a while since he'd slept in a real bed, and he'd forgotten how comfy they were. He was going to stick with his coffin, though, for the aesthetic.

He'd do anything for the aesthetic, even ruining his spine.

The next morning, he woke up with a raging hangover, in Luca's arms, confused and mildly terrified. Even after remembering where he was. He didn't think he and Luca had done much, but he could see glaring sunlight seeping in through a crack in the curtain - dangerously close to his right hand - and he had no idea just how he was supposed to get home.

He couldn't sneak out. He was trapped between Luca and the sunlight and wouldn't be able to wiggle free of the guy's arms without waking him. He moved closer, to be further from the sunlight, and the movement made Luca stir. Andrei found himself looking into a pair of sleepy, green eyes. Luca kissed him.

"You're pretty," Andrei mumbled, briefly forgetting about his troubles.

"We're both pretty." Luca groaned and rolled out of bed, stumbling over to the window and grabbing the curtains.

"No!" screamed Andrei, his life and un-life flashing before his very eyes.

"Okay, darn," Luca let go, "I mean, I don't blame you, though. Maybe we should wait for the hangover to wear off."

"Can we keep all the curtains closed til, like, 4-ish?"

"So… until it gets dark?" Luca raised an eyebrow.

Andrei rubbed his temples. "I have… it's like an allergy? I'm really sensitive to the sun and get these horrible burns." He looked up at Luca, "I could die." He was stuck at Luca's house without even a parasol; might as well explain his situation, even if it sounded ridiculous. Alin didn't have a mobile, and Tsvetan didn't even know how a phone worked, so they were probably losing it with worry. There was the landline, but Andrei was out of credit. He usually was, because every time he wanted to talk to his brother, he had to call a landline.

Luca winced, then closed the gap in the curtains. "That sounds rough. So, no beach party for you, then." He climbed back into bed, holding him close.

"Nope. Never." He looked up at him.

"That why you live in Scotland?"

Andrei snuggled deep into his chest. He was so, so warm. "Pretty much, yeah. Hey, what did… did we do, you know, anything?"

Luca glanced at him. "Dunno. Do you count kissing as 'anything'?"

"Just kissing?"

"Just kissing. I promise. I wouldn't have done anything else when you were that fucking smashed. Besides, you fell asleep pretty quickly." He cuddled him tight and kissed his forehead. "It was cute."

"You call the state I was in last night "cute"? I was a mess!"

"Cute mess. I've always thought you were cute, though. Especially your teeth. And your eyes. And your fluffy hair."

Andrei smiled at that. "You really think so?"

"Course!"

"And not just because I'm in bed with you?"

"No, I really, really like you. I've been meaning to ask you out, but then I got scared and thought maybe I should wait 'til all my assignments were handed in, and think about it over Christmas." He blushed at that. "I've never been this nervous about liking someone before."

Although Andrei liked to think Luca had a good heart, there was still an air of that well-off white boy entitlement about him. It was funny watching his vampiric allure fluster him in such a way.

"That's really sweet," Andrei kissed his cheek, "and, yeah, I think you're really, really handsome. I was way, way too scared to say anything before, though. You seemed… like, way outta my league."

"I'm out of everyone's league." There it was. "So I can't be picky. I'll like who I like."

"Pretty," he mumbled. Luca smiled.

"Wanna get up and get something to eat? And some water?"

"I don't think I could eat anything," Andrei pulled himself up, rubbing his eyes, "too bleh. Water sounds nice, though." He was so, so thirsty. Water wouldn't satisfy him the way blood could, but it would help.

Luca climbed out of bed, pulling on a fluffy dressing gown and passing a spare to Andrei and cuddling him. Andrei smiled into his shoulder. When they got downstairs, Isabel had apparently cleared out any other stragglers, and was stuffing her face with cake on the sofa, in pink kitten pyjamas and a face like a zombie licking piss off a goblin's nutsack. The room was still messy, and Andrei would offer to help clear up, but he still felt like shit.

"Afternoon," she mumbled to them, "you're just in time. Ordered pizza."

"I would die for you, Izzie." Luca cuddled up to her.

"How you doing, Andrei, was it?" She watched him as he snuggled up to Luca, wondering just how he was supposed to avoid all the pizza.

"Alright," he said weakly. "Sorry for overstaying."

"He's allergic to sunlight," Luca added.

"Well, stay for dinner and Luca'll walk you home later."

Andrei nodded. Hopefully Tsvetan wouldn't think he'd brought home a snack.

"So, have fun?" Asked Isabel, "you boys use protection?"

"Nothing happened!" Cried Luca. The other two winced at the noise.

"I threw up and fell asleep," Andrei added.

"Been there, kiddo," Isabel took a long drink of water and downed another painkiller.

"Oh, that reminds me," Luca got up, "you stay there, darling, and I'll get us some water too."

"Thanks," Andrei mumbled. When Luca came back, he resumed cuddling up to him. Andrei smiled like a cat being stroked. Did this mean they were boyfriends now? He hadn't had a boyfriend since the 90s. Luca stroked his hair, then kissed the top of his head tenderly, and Andrei closed his eyes to savour the touch.

"You're so cold," Luca mumbled.

"Mmm, need cuddles."

The doorbell rang, and Isabel winced before going to answer it. Andrei tried not to panic. He was going to die and turn to dust and probably traumatise the Morgens siblings in the process. And Alin would never know and never be able to recover a body. No, he'd find out. Luca would tell people he literally turned to dust, a vampire would hear about it, and Alin, after nights of not knowing where he was, would finally discover his only brother was dead. For real this time.

Or, less melodramatically, he could just pretend to be sick.

Isabel came back with a pair of pizza boxes and a selection of smaller ones. Andrei's withered stomach sank.

"I got a cheese one and a meaty one, in case you're vegetarian. And some garlic bread and and wedges."

Luca smiled gratefully, politely diving into the meat pizza, and Andrei settled for the cheese one. Fewer toppings. He took a tiny bite.

It was like eating wet sand.

He smiled and ate in silence, leaning against Luca. He refused the garlic bread, and only had two slices of the pizza, but he immediately felt his mistake. It was like a pile of jagged rocks had dropped into his stomach, and he was bloating. The pungent smell of garlic was overwhelming him.

Throwing up during a party was one thing, but, even though he had the hangover excuse, he still didn't want to be sick where Luca could hear. Again. There wasn't blaring music and voices to hide the sounds.

But he was most definitely gonna throw up.

"Look, I better get going." He got up, "my brother's gonna be worried about me."

"So soon? You don't have to go. Have some more pizza."

He shook his head. His throat was burning. His entire body was burning and he realised, with horror, that a pizza would obviously contain garlic, and he was going to die.

"It's still light-"

"I'm not feeling good, I really gotta go. Allergies." He darted out the front door before Luca or Isabel could reply.

The final dregs of daylight were disappearing with the sun behind buildings, but burning rays still crept in between the houses, and it would be difficult to navigate his way home. Even the evening light was turning his skin red.

He just needed to find somewhere to lay low until he could fly home.

There was an alleyway, still in shade where he could hide behind a skip and throw up in peace. He hobbled into it and was immediately sick into a cardboard box. It was a disgusting sight, chunks of pizza mixed with weak, watery blood. He needed to drink soon.

He collapsed against the wall, skin sizzling and stomach a jagged cave. He wanted to cry.

The alley seemed too small. Too cramped. Anyone could corner him here. Hurt him. His mind was falling backwards, back into a memory he'd tried to lock away. He curled up into a ball, but the cold, gravelly floor reminded him of death. Of blood, before blood was all he craved.

And, just like then, he wanted his brother.

He hugged his knees, arms shaking and he couldn't stop them. He wanted Alin! He wanted someone to help him.

"Andrei?"

Luca approached cautiously, running over the moment he saw Andrei and pulling him into a hug. "Good God, are you okay?" He was holding an umbrella, and held it above Andrei's head. It wasn't much, but he was safer now.

"Fine," he sniffed. He'd not even realised he'd been crying. "What're you doing here?"

"I was worried about you. You just ran out."

"Like I said. Allergies. I'm allergic to garlic."

"Oh, I assumed you were lactose intolerant, like Izzie."

"That would be a more normal reason to be ill after pizza, yes."

Luca smiled. "So you're allergic to sunlight and garlic? Are you a vampire?"

Andrei thought he would throw up again, before realising Luca was just joking. "Ye-yeah. That's why I'm so pretty and goth." He didn't feel pretty right now. He was a mess with blood and sick on his mouth. He didn't feel like an alluring apex predator, or boyfriend material.

"You look pretty burnt; you weren't lying about the allergy, huh. And I thought the Scots burnt bad."

"I feel like shit," he admitted.

"Come back, stay with me and Izzie, at least until night time, then I'll walk you home."

"You don't have to- Look, I don't think I could walk home. The sun…"

Luca nodded. "We'll stay here then, until nightfall."

"You're sweet, but I look like shit. I just wanna wallow in self-pity for a bit."

"Andrei, I don't care what you look like. You're my friend and maybe my boyfriend and I want to help. I'm not leaving you."

Andrei smiled, leaning into him. "Thanks. I feel safer with you." He wasn't going to think about the last time someone had been with him in an alley. Luca was good. Luca wouldn't hurt him.

Well, he might if he knew what Andrei was.

* * *

True to his word, Luca walked him home the moment it got dark enough, holding the umbrella over his head like a gentleman. Andrei had clung to his arm, smiling to himself. When he reached his house, the two made their way up the winding path to the front door. Andrei stopped and kissed Luca's cheek.

"Your house is really nice," he said, looking up at it, "it suits you. Gothic."

"Thanks. My brother's husband chose it. I'd invite you in, but I think I'm about to get the lecture of a lifetime and it would be really embarrassing to have you witness that, and I feel embarrassed enough with everything. I'll make it up to you over the holidays, though."

"Look forward to it." Luca gave him a kiss, straightened his scarf, and began walking back down the garden path. Andrei watched him go with a smile, then went inside.

Immediately, he found himself in Alin's arms, almost knocked back outside.

"Where the hell were you?" he cried, "I thought you were burnt to a crisp!"

"Sorry," Andrei glanced over Alin's shoulder to find Tsvetan, trying his best to not looked relieved. "I woke up late and thought I'd just stay there for the day and I didn't have enough credit to call."

Alin pulled away, touching his face gently. "You're fried. Why did you go out in the day?"

"They were eating garlic bread so I panicked and had to get outta there. Had a good time, though."

"Oh you poor boy," Alin pulled him back into a tight hug, reluctant to let go again. "At least you had fun. Kiss any boys?"

"Hell yeah, might have a boyfriend now. That one I like. Luca."

Tsvetan rolled his eyes. "Falling for humans. Pah!"

"Hypocrite."

"Well, I'd love to meet Luca," said Alin, "make sure he's treating you right."

"Alin, he's a gentleman. I promise."


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm sorry I haven't been updating. It's my last year of uni so I'm putting all my focus on doing well. And when I want to wind down I play Stardew Valley instead (sorry, it's a creative writing course, and sometimes I burn out). Anyway, this chapter is short and crappy, but I want to get something done and get back into the flow of writing fics._

* * *

It took a week for Andrei to fully recover, and during that time, Alin had banned him for going outside during the day, at least for the foreseeable future. Kuzey and Franz visited, keeping him updated on everything. Apparently, Luca missed him. His texts confirmed that, and Andrei did his best to reassure the man he was okay. That Luca didn't need to come over. Nevermind Tsvetan, Alin would probably eat him.

Even when he got back to class, Andrei tried to limit the time spent with Luca, for both their benefits. He sat in awkward seats in the lecture hall, he hid in the silent study zones of the library, and always had an excuse ready if conversation did strike.

He was too embarrassed to face him, and he was running out of excuses for his undead behaviour.

Luca soon gave up trying to talk to him, especially with deadlines just around the corner, all at once. Andrei tried as best as he could to focus on his own assignments. He poured his fears into his poetry portfolio, but the writing was probably too rough and raw to gain many technical marks. Especially the sonnet. Alin loved writing them, but Andrei hated his own shoddy attempt. And what if the metaphors and imagery he used just fell flat? Then there was no hope for the rest of his work.

Andrei glared at his play, staring amateurishly back at him from his monitor. It was a last minute idea cobbled together in an hour, with this one version acting as the first draft and final piece, for now. Of course, it was his first year; nothing he did would count towards his degree; and it whatever mistakes he made in this assignment were ways he could improve on for next term; but he wanted everything he wrote to be perfect on the first try. And if it wasn't, and it usually wasn't, he would cry. Such was the life of a writer with a fragile ego.

Getting Alin or Tsvetan to proofread anything he did would be out of the question. Tsvetan wasn't artistically gifted, and Alin was a little too much. Andrei had made the mistake of reading his poetry only once. For a guy that horny and that obsessed with death, it only made sense that he ended up marrying an undead man.

In the end, he called up Franz and Kuzey and the three of them spent the night in the library, packed to the brim on the last day of term, reading through each other's work and feeling a fraction more confident when they finally submitted everything.

Then they went to the pub, had one beer each, and completely blacked out.

He woke up the next evening with a raging hangover and nothing in the way of responsibility. He lay in his coffin, head pounding like he was banging it against the lid and dreading the thought of anything other than pitch blackness. He wanted to go back to sleep.

He needed to call Luca.

He probably didn't have a boyfriend anymore, if Luca had even counted in the first place. It made him want to sink into nothing. He'd blown his first chance in nearly 20 years by being a weird, creepy monster. He could never explain to Luca what he was. Luca would either think him delusional, or be terrified of him. He'd have to settle with being a gross man with gross allergies that made him look gross.

And he wasn't even willing to settle for that. He'd just have to avoid Luca forever. Shouldn't be too hard; the man would be dead in a few decades.

He felt for his phone, somewhere on his pillow, and turned it on. Then immediately turned it off at the light of a billion suns right in his face. Fuck being conscious right now.

He went back to sleep.

Around nine, he had another go at being conscious. After getting used to his screen, he read a new text from Luca.

 _Hey andrei,_

 _Im sorry if i said anything to upset you, i really didn't mean to, and i know you've been busy lately, but now we have more time, i hope, can we meet up? Id really like to talk to you._

Andrei closed his eyes. This was it, wasn't it? Luca was going to tell him they were better off as friends. That he was too strange, and a bad person for avoiding him.

Might as well get it over with, then he could spend the holidays writing sad poetry. Maybe he'd have enough to publish a collection. Somehow. He still didn't know how that was supposed to work.

Tsvetan knew how to make books himself, one of the many hobbies, and had bound pages of Alin's writing into ornate tomes for the library. Tomes Andrei didn't dare touch.

No publisher ever accepted Alin's work.

Andrei guessed he should get over with it. He sent his reply.

 _Sorry, i was busy, but i'd love to talk now. Your place?_

Andrei couldn't have Luca round his house. There was no way to explain being so dedicated to the goth lifestyle that he slept in a coffin.

 _Sounds good. My brother's still in London and my sister's out with friends. We'll have some privacy_

Good. No one around to see Andrei get dumped.

 _Now ?_

Andrei watched the three dots flicker on and off his screen.

 _Sounds good_

He gulped, lifting the lid from his coffin. Time to make himself look tragically beautiful.

* * *

"Had a bit of a panic, first assignment," Luca was rambling, "turnitin went down when I tried to submit it?"

Andrei picked at a hair on his satin shirt. "Did you submit it two minutes before the deadline?"

"No," Luca mumbled, "five."

"Learnt your lesson, then?" Andrei remembered when universities first brought in turnitin. So long ago. Or maybe it was only recently; he couldn't quite remember. Everything he'd seen was blurring together now, decades of memories. No wonder Tsvetan was so confused about the details of his life. And world history.

"Of course," Luca huffed, "and I didn't have any more problems."

The two fell into an uncomfortable silence. Turnitin was the last in a short list of conversation topics to avoid talking about what happened, along with the weather, the last week of term, and the lecturers. It was stiff and painful, avoiding elephants, and Andrei wished Luca would just get it over with.

"I'm sorry," Andrei began when Luca didn't. "I should've called."

Luca blinked at that. "Probably, yeah, but… what I wanted to talk to you about was apologising myself."

Andrei looked at him. What was he on about? Andrei had looked at Luca's first text on his way here, assuming Luca was just blaming himself for everything. Poor boy. "How? I don't remember you doing anything wrong. You were the perfect gentleman."

"Oh, I was worried I'd done something to hurt you. Made you feel unwelcome. I wasn't really sure how to react to everything, sorry."

"You didn't make me feel unwelcome. I was just embarrassed." Andrei rubbed his arm. Was he allowed to feel hopeful, now? "My allergies always make me feel gross, y'know?"

"I think they make you sound cool," Luca shrugged, "like my very own vampire man."

He knew it was a joke, but even the thought of Luca knowing what he was made him want to flee out the window. He'd hate him. He wouldn't understand. It was a rare chance that Luca could be met with indisputable proof that Andrei was a vampire, but he'd freak out whatever happened. There was no way he'd be able to trust Andrei, not if he was a monster that preyed on innocent humans.

He'd never, but how was Luca to know that?

Luca was looking at him all strange now, and Andrei realised he'd forgotten to reply. He raised an eyebrow.

"You don't… actually think you're a vampire, do you?"

Andrei froze. "No. Of course not."

Luca stared at him.

"Look," Andrei winced, "I'm not some edgelord or anything, but I liked to pretend as a kid. And sometimes as an adult. You know, when I'm bored. I have an active imagination." He couldn't sweat, but he felt like he was dripping. "It's a shitty situation, so I have to make the most out of it."

Luca considered, then shrugged. "I suppose. I can't imagine what it's like, having such violent allergies. Yours seem even more severe than Isabel's, and she snapchats herself screaming on the toilet."

Andrei had no idea what a Snap Chat was, but it was an image he wasn't getting out of his head anytime soon.

"So, we're cool, then?" he asked instead.

Luca nodded. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

Great. He was back to nervous stomach churning. But Luca just took his hand and kissed it, smiling softly, genuinely. Andrei would've blushed if he could.

"I'd love to ask you out," said Luca, "officially."

Andrei broke into a grin, then pulled Luca in to kiss his cheek. "I'd love for you to ask me out too. Want to pick the date or should I?"


End file.
